Weather anchor skills for your resume and career

Meteorology is a good profession to enter now for several reasons. We are starting to see some of the more severe impacts of climate change come to light, and meteorologists serve a vital role in the protection of life and property during severe weather events. These events include enhanced flooding from ever-stronger rainfall, more intense and frequent hurricanes, water management difficulties due to prolonged severe drought, and the risks posed by sustained heat waves. Meteorologists communicate these risks to both stakeholders and the broader public. At the same time the world is facing these risks, the meteorological community is making great strides with forecast modeling. Nearly all hurricane landfall forecasts have been correct within 50 miles over the last 5 years—this was not true 20 years ago! People entering the field today will be instrumental to incorporating further advances in incorporating artificial intelligence into forecasting. We are certainly not at the point yet where AI can entirely supplant humans at creating weather forecasts. Meteorologists add important local knowledge of the regions they serve, will still need to quality check AI model output, and will still be necessary to collect and synthesize the data that goes into AI and traditional computer models. So it is certainly an exciting time of technological transition.

Employers also look for employees who can communicate well both orally and in writing. Of course, technical expertise in their discipline (e.g. atmospheric science) is important.